The present invention relates to a thermal bandage for heating or cooling various portions of the human body and more particularly, to a thermal bandage which readily conforms to the contours of a body portion to maintain the adjacent skin at a predetermined uniform temperature to aid in healing and the like.
A number of thermal applicators exist in the prior art in which thermal fluid is circulated through the applicator to provide a continuous transfer of heat. Examples of this type of applicator are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,896,953; 2,726,658; and 3,683,902 which are incorporated by reference herein for teaching systems in which such applicator units may be used and for teaching thermal fluid storage and circulation means for such systems.
The above applicators, suffer from many shortcomings. Typically the applicators involve relatively thick bulk compresses which do not conform closely to the contour of the body. Failure of the compress to conform closely and to retain close contact once positioned, results in irregular heating and cooling of the skin area. This problem often results in irregular or nonuniform healing of the skin, swelling, and the like.
To overcome the above disadvantages the applicant of the present invention developed a bendable thermal pack unit disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,146 which is included herein by reference. The disclosed invention provides a thermal pack unit which is configured to the general shape of the body portion to whch it is to be applied. This unit overcomes the earlier shortcomings by providing a thermal pack unit which conforms to the contour of the human body so that regular and uniform healing of the skin can be obtained. Further, the applicant of the present invention also developed another uniform cooling pack which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,279 which is also incorporated by reference herein.
Although applicant's eariler bendable thermal pack unit possesses superior qualities and greatly improves over the prior art, it requires a different unit for each different body portion. It may be necessary to have numerous sizes of a specific bandage to cover the wide range of human sizes. Consequently, a doctor would have to have a huge inventory of different bandages for different anatomic sites and different sizes per site.
The present invention eliminates the deficiencies of the prior art and provides a simple, low cost, light weight thermal bandage which readily conforms to the contours of any portion of the human body to maintain uniform heating or cooling of the adjacent skin area.